World Champs Day 2: Russia’s Sludnov Lowers WR Again in the 100 Breast; Anthony Ervin Takes the 50 Free

By Craig Lord
FUKUOKA, Japan, July 23. IT was a night of celebration in Fukuoka, courtesy of a world record of 59.94 seconds by Roman Sloudnov, of Russia, in the second semi-final of the 100m breaststroke, and two European records in the 200m butterfly.

The first of those went to Germany's Annika Melhorn, who in 2:06.97 finished second to Australia's Petria Thomas, while the other went in the semi-final to France's Franck Esposito in 1min 55.03sec, also a
championship record and shared with Olympic champion Tom Malchow, of the United States. That time ties the two men for the second fastest performance in history, bettered only by Michael Phelps' WR of 1:54.92.

Anthony Ervin, of the Phoenix Swim Club, added the world title to his Olympic crown tonight with a masterful performance that left no doubt that, with teammate Gary Hall, Jr., enjoying a quieter aquatic life, he is now King of Sprinters.

The time was a championship record of 22.09 seconds, a touch slower than that in which he had shared Olympic glory with Hall Jr., but faster than Jager, Popov and Pilczuk's passages to gold had gone before him.

Victory was all the sweeter for keeping Pieter van den Hoogenband, the flying Dutchman, at bay on 22.16 seconds, with the bronze medal being shared between Roland Schoeman, of South Africa, and Tomohiro Yamanoi, of Japan, both on 22.18sec. Yamanoi's time was a national and Asian record.

Ervin said: "It feels really great to become a world champion for the first time in my life. The race felt great from start to finish. I loved being in there, the crowd, the atmosphere – everything felt just right."

Van den Hoogenband, who did not get the best of starts and lost in the game of catch-up that followed, said:
"I'm happy with the color of the medal because at the Olympics I got the bronze." The absence of Hall
appeared lost on him. "There are things to improve – the start, for example."

200m butterfly women:

Petria Thomas, the Australian who has spent the best part of her senior career as bridesmaid to Susan O'Neill, her former teammate and now retired world record holder, claimed her first world long-course crown over 200m butterfly last night – but only just, as Germany's Annika Mehlhorn gave her the fight and fright of her life.

Victory came in a championship record of 2:06.73, to the German's 2:06.97, a European record, while Kaitlin Sandeno, of the US and the woman with the busiest program in the pool – claimed the first of two bronze medals she won in 2:08.52 on Day Two of the World Championships. The other came in the 800 meter freestyle amidst a race program that could amount to more than 6,000 meters of racing this week.

"It is about time!" said Thomas alluding to her many silver and bronze medals behind O'Neill, and in Sydney both her teammate and Olympic champion Misty Hyman. "I knew it was going to be a tough race over the last 50
meters but I didn't expect it to be quite as fast as that – when I saw the clock I had to look twice. I really wanted that title so I'm really happy."

Melhorn described her effort in modest terms: "It was quite satisfactory for me." She assumed it was her best time but appeared to have no idea that she was the new European record holder.

Sandeno said that the three races she had competed in on Day One of the Championships had led her to believe that she had little chance of winning the butterfly title, but she added: "I'm really happy with the result but I have to run now – I've got another race…" And off she went to claim her second bronze medal.

100m backstroke men:

Matt Welsh, of Australia, made hay in the absence of Lenny Krayzelburg, the Olympic champion who kept him from the top spot in Sydney last year. The winning time, 54.31, a championship record, suggested that he would have pressed Krayzelburg even if the American had been present. Second place went to Orn Arnarson, the first Icelander to win a World Championship
medal, with the bronze going to Stefan Driesen, of Germany, in 54.91.

The USA's Randall Bal was fourth in 54.97 while Aaron Peirsol did not make it out of the semifinals.

100m breaststroke women:

China claimed its first title of the championships when Luo Xuejuan stormed to victory in 1min 07.18, a championship record, with Leisel Jones, of Australia, adding to her Olympic silver medal with a silver in 1:07.96, while the bronze medal went to Agnes Kovacs, of Hungary in 1:08.50.

The USA's Megan Quann, the Olympic champion, and kristy Kowal, the defending world champ, finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

800m freestyle women:

Hannah Stockbauer produced the best performance among a much recovered German team, with a fantastic
8:24.66 victory, well clear of US teammates Diana Munz and Kaitlin Sandeno in 8:28.84 and 8:31.45. Sandeno just out-touched China's Chen Hua for the bronze

4x100m freestyle relay women:

Until a British sprint quartet swam beyond hope and expectation here to win a silver medal last night, the top two places in the 4x100m freestyle relay in World Championship history had been jealously guarded by the
superfuelled and superpowers of the pool – the bulked up belles from Beijing and East Berlin, the United States and Germany.

"The tide has turned," asserted Bill Sweetenham, Britain's national performance director brought in to raise Britain's game, after Alison Sheppard, Melanie Marshall, Rosalind Brett and Karen Pickering battled
their way through a race in which they threatened beyond the medal positions until Pickering swept past Sweden and caught the US to snatch a shared silver medal behind Germany, 3:39.58 to 3:40.80.